BV 4017 
.C65 
Copy 1 



PREACHED IN 



HINGHAM, 17 DECEMBER, 18ir, 



AT THE 



ORDINATION OF THE REV. DANIEL KIMBALL, A. M. 

PRECEPTOR OF DERBY ACADEMY, 
AS AN 

EVANGELIST. 

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BY HENRY COLMAN, £ . rf . 

MINISTER OF THE THIRB CHURCH IN HISGBAM. 
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PUBLISHED BY REQUEST. 



BOSTON ; 




{•RIJTTED BY JOHK ELIOT. 
• 1818. 






SERMON. 



II. TIMOTHY iv. 5. 
DO THE WORK OP AN EVANGELIST. 

In the primitive church the offices of evangelist 
and pastor were distinct from each other. The 
pastoral office implied a connexion with some par- 
ticular church or portion of the christian communi- 
ty as its religious instructor and president ; but the 
duties, which are now considered as appertaining 
to that office, such for instance as the visitation of 
the sick and the dying, and the particular care of 
the poor of the church, were performed by the 
deacons and elders, or, in cases relating to their own 
sex, by the widows and matrons.* The office of 
evangelist was that of a preacher of the gospel, 
appointed, by a solemn and impressive ceremony, to 
the duties of publick religious instruction and the 
administration of the ordinances of Christianity, 
wherever the providence of God might open a field 
for these honourable labours. 

• 1 Tira. v. 10. 



If changes, in what may be termed the political 
circumstances of the church, have brought the of- 
fice of evangelist, as distinct from pastor, in some 
degree into disuse, yet the practice of the Apos- 
tles is a sufficient sanction, wherever circumstances 
render its institution expedient. We judge the pre- 
sent to be such an occasion. We have assembled 
for this purpose. We presume not and we would 
not be thought to presume, by any thing which 
may be said or done at this time, to confer any spir- 
itual power, dignity or rights ; but we think it not 
inconsistent with the proper simplicity of christian 
institutions, we believe indeed, that the good order 
of the christian church and the community requires, 
that the publick recognition of a christian brother 
as a christian minister should be attended with ser- 
vices of more than ordinary solemnity ; we are 
happy in the opportunity of congratulating each 
other on the accession of an auxiliary to our sacred 
calling ; we trust that the interesting though sim- 
ple services of an ordination may fix in the mind of 
him, who is the subject of it, a deeper sentiment of 
responsibility, and may with advantage recall to our 
recollection, my brethren in the ministry, our own 
vows, and the affecting charge we ourselves receiv- 
ed on a similar occasion. It must contribute to 
christian charity thus publickly to pledge to each 
other our sympathy and fellowship; and we rejoice 
in every opportunity of uniting our supplications at 



the throne of light and mercy for a blessing on each 
other's purposes and labours. 

The first duty of an evangelist in the primitive 
times and of christian ministers at the present is 
that of publick preaching. I propose to offer some 
observations on this subject. The subject is not 
unsuitable to the occasion, and my remarks, I hope, 
will be received with that candor, which we may 
confidently expect from the enlightened. 

An institution more favourable and conducive to 
the best interests of the community, to social order, 
to private and publick virtue than that of publick 
christian instruction, cannot be devised. It con- 
tributes to these purposes by rendering the subjects 
of religion and morals, which in the multiplicity of 
secular concerns would by a great part of mankind 
be wholly overlooked, matters of general reflection, 
inquiry, and concern ; it is the principal means of 
communicating to many persons whatever knowl- 
edge they possess on these subjects ; it operates as 
a powerful restraint upon vice by often holding it 
up to publick disgrace and infamy in its proper 
colours, and by the delineation of its hurtful and tre- 
mendous consequences in the present and the future 
world ; and, as a powerful incentive and encourage- 
ment to virtue by the exhibition of its high motives 
and obligations in the light of religion ; lastly, it 
contributes in the most efficacious manner to refine 
and elevate in the community the standard of moral 



and religious sentiment. To all these valuable 
purposes it is clearly adapted ; to all these valu- 
able purposes, wherever it is enjoyed, it more or 
less contributes ; even in its lowest form it is a con- 
siderable instrument of instruction and persuasion. 
We will not now inquire why it is not more effica- 
cious than it is ; we will not speak of that negli- 
gence and want of seriousness on the part of hear- 
ers, that utter unconsciousness of their own imme- 
diate and personal concern in the subject, which so 
often renders the best religious discourses ineffec- 
tual ; nor will we remark on the defects of preach- 
ers, because it might seem invidious; but we will 
confine our inquiries to those circumstances of com- 
position and delivery, which are likely to render our 
discourses most adapted to their proper and excel- 
lent purpose. 

I. The first object of every religious discourse, 
the motive which should govern our conduct in all 
the relations of social life, should be utility. Our 
object in preaching should be to instruct our audi- 
ence on some subject which it is important they 
should understand, or to persuade them to practise 
what it is their duty to do. This forbids us to 
nourish our vanity, or to make our personal success 
and reputation a primary object of aim or desire. 
This does not allow us to regard the mere discharge 
of a stipulated measure of duty as a principal end. 
This will not permit us to make our particular taste, 



opinions and habits of study and reflection, or our 
own ease, convenience or facility of execution the 
ground of choice. This will not allow us indeed 
in the selection of a subject of discourse to acquiesce 
in any general notions of utility. 

The preacher is not to select a particular subject 
of discourse because it will afford him an opportu- 
nity of displaying his talents with the most brillian- 
cy and effect. When we give our hearers reason to 
suspect us of this motive, that which ought to be the 
effect of our preaching is certainly defeated. We 
ought not to be satisfied, if our object is to produce 
only what may pass for a sermon, even though it 
should pass currently enough with friends, who Iqve 
to flatter us. It is much to be regretted both by 
ourselves and our hearers, that preaching should be 
in any respect a pecuniary concern, and a good man 
will diligently discipline his mind, lest even the 
slightest tinge of mercenary calculation should 
corrupt his performance of religious services. A 
preacher should not choose a subject merely be- 
cause it is easy to treat it ; for the effect of such 
indulgence, if often repeated, will be fatal to all 
vigour and manliness of thought ; there is no apol- 
ogy for indolence in ministers or people ; a habit 
of this description being fixed, the discourses be- 
come, with little variety of form and expression, 
but a mere repetition of the most common-place 



8 

and uninteresting remarks* We are not to choose 
a subject solely because it gratifies our taste or ac- 
cords with our peculiar speculations, lest we treat 
one, which to our hearers may be incongruous and 
unnecessary; perhaps worse than useless, by sug- 
gesting doubts, difficulties or perplexities, which 
the limited means of inquiry that some possess will 
not enable them to remove. We are not to choose 
a subject of discourse at random, only because it 
strikes our fancy or from the mere suggestion of 
some text as convenient for that purpose. Except- 
ing those cases in which we mean to explain some 
particular passage in the scriptures, is it not a rea- 
sonable and good rule never to look for a text un- 
til we have decided upon a subject ? — This would 
contribute to that unity of discourse which ought 
to be a first requisite ; it would tend to a fuller in- 
vestigation of the topick discussed and furnish a 
greater variety of subjects than we have by a dif- 
ferent method. Lastly, in the choice of a subject 
for discourse it should not satisfy us, that it is a 
subject of morals and religion. Some subjects of 

* Some apology may perhaps be found, if it i3 true, as Eachard ob- 
serves, that there are very few texts of scripture that can be divided at 
soonest before friday night, and some there be that will never be divided 
but upon Sunday morning, and that not very early, but either a little be- 
fore they go, or in going to church. 

Grounds and Occasions of the Contempt of the Clergy 
and Religion inquired into. p. 72. 



theology are not proper subjects of publick preach* 
ing; and some moral duties, virtues to be practis- 
ed or vices to be avoided, are not fit topicks of dis- 
course from the pulpit and before promiscuous con- 
gregations. 

Our attention should be directed to those sub* 
jects which are of general and universal applica* 
tion and utility. In the case of a settled minister, 
common sense and propriety will dictate, as far as 
practicable, in the choice of subjects and in his 
manner of treating them, a particular regard to the 
circumstances of his congregation ; to their limited 
or advanced state of intellectual improvement ; the 
general current of sentiment and feeling among 
them ; their particular errours, deficiencies, preju- 
dices, false maxims, improper manners or prevalent 
habits of vice ; and this always without giving rea- 
son to suspect any direct or personal allusion to in- 
dividuals among them, excepting so far as their own 
consciences may be faithful to their duty, and they 
may find themselves included in general exhibitions 
of character and sentiments. The discreet and faith- 
ful minister will not suffer to pass without notice, 
any particular and striking dispensations of provi- 
dence, which occur among them, but will seize those 
opportunities, when the attention is more than com- 
monly awake, and the heart peculiarly susceptible, 
to dispense the consolations and urge home the 
solemn considerations of religion. Let the chris- 
2 • 



10 

tian preacher then in the choice of his subject ask 
himself, if it is an important subject ; if it is a sea- 
sonable one ; if it is one in which his audience are 
likely to be interested, and by which, if they are 
not wanting in their duty, they may certainly be 
edified. In the mixed assemblies which we address, 
it is not possible always to select a subject or treat 
it in a manner which is suited to all classes and 
grades of intellectual character and attainment; 
but where we statedly officiate to the same congre- 
gation, occasions will offer for every variety of sub- 
ject and address. In this respect may not the char- 
acter of almost any people be improved ; by grad- 
ual and discreet attempts may not the standard of 
preaching among them be elevated ; by a perspic- 
uous and natural address may they not be brought 
to take an interest in the highest and most impor- 
tant discussions of religion and morals? 

II. I proceed to remark in the second place 
on the style of composition, proper for public dis- 
courses. Sermons may be divided into two gene- 
ral classes ; sermons designed either to instruct or 
to persuade, doctrinal or practical. These differ- 
ent kinds will often run into each other, and indeed 
they should in most cases be found united. No 
doctrine ought to be preached which has not a 
practical tendency, and rational conviction should 
always be made the basis of persuasion. These 
different kinds of discourse evidently dictate a dif- 



11 

ferenceof style; the one sedate and calm; the oth- 
er animated, earnest and impassioned according to 
the importance of the subject ; the one discursive, 
in the form of essay ; the other, that of direct ad- 
dress. There are general characteristics, which 
apply to both kinds of discourse. 

1. Perspicuity should be our first aim; what is 
the use of preaching if we are not understood ? 
But this is no common excellence in composition, 
and it cannot be acquired without repeated and la- 
borious exertions. In order to its attainment it is 
indispensable that we should fully possess ourselves 
of what we intend to say. It is impossible that we 
should be understood unless we understand our- 
selves ; and those ideas and sentiments which are 
clearly defined in the mind, it will not be difficult 
to ^communicate intelligibly to others. The Ser- 
mons of the late venerable Dr. Barnes* and an 
anonymous volume of Sermons on Particular Oc- 
casions, not long since published among us and at- 
tributed to a friend of ours, are admirable exam- 
ples of perspicuity. Dr. Barnes had none of the 
graces of composition, but his hearers were never 
at a loss for what he intended to say ; and he had 
that simplicity and sincerity, which constitute the 
very soul of eloquence and which found their way 
directly to the heart. But in aiming at simplicity 

* Of Scituate, Mass. He died 36 April, 1811 aged 81. 




12 

of style, we must carefully avoid all quamtness and 
vulgarity of expression, which are always offensive 
and inconsistent with the dignity of the pulpit. 
The incessant use of scriptural phrases, in whole 
or in part, disjointed or connected, does not appear 
to me to be favourable to perspicuity. I have the 
highest reverence for the majesty, and the noble 
and beautiful simplicity of the scriptures. The 
language of them may often be directly quoted 
with great propriety and effect, but the indiscrimin- 
ate use of it is not always to be approved. It de<- 
serves to be considered, that the language of the 
common translation of the scriptures is not the lan- 
guage of our times ; that the scriptures are often 
highly figurative and abound with allusions to 
circumstances, customs, and rites, of which many 
hearers have but very imperfect conceptions ; that 
the force of these allusions therefore is not always 
perceived ; and that, when improperly applied or 
understood, they may convey \erj erroneous impres- 
sions. Thus the epistle to the Hebrews is filled 
with references, often misinterpreted, to the rites, 
sacrifices, and institutions of the Jewish economy. 
We may add that phrases of this kind come to the 
mind accompanied with a sentiment of their sanc- 
tity which leads us to assent to them without exam- 
ination ; and, the language of the scriptures having 
become very familiar, we often think we understand 
it when we do not, and it is frequently heard and 



13 

read without producing any distinct or vivid impres- 
sion. Thus it often happens that members of our 
own family, for whom we entertain the highest re- 
spect and affection, may pass through the room in 
which we are sitting, without any distinct conscious- 
ness on our part of their entrance or departure, 
their manners or observations; whereas, if they 
were only occasional visitors, we should receive 
them with particular courtesy and attention. Noth- 
ing, which I have said, will be construed into a 
want of respect for the scriptures, but by those 
persons who wish to misunderstand me, and I am 
persuaded there are none such present. The 
scriptures are occasionally quoted with an aptness, 
elegance, force, and effect, singularly striking, but 
this demands more attention and judgment than are 
sometimes exercised. 

2. Perspicuity being secured, the next object 
may be embellishment. Elegance of style is not 
inconsistent with simplicity. We should aim to 
convey our sentiments in a manner most likely to 
produce a favourable and permanent impression ; 
and therefore when it can be done without the sacri- 
fice of truth, we should consult the taste and grati- 
fication of our audience. Religion disdains all the 
artifices and tricks of oratory, but it demands the 
aid of true eloquence. There is an essential and 
inherent majesty in the truths of religion which, 
when presented in their simplest form, are some-? 



!4 

times irresistible; but their effect is then most pow- 
erful when imagination throws over them her vivid 
colours and they find their way to the heart by the 
blaze of the affections. 

But eloquence perhaps must be discarded from 
religion, because it sometimes implies an appeal to 
the passions, and men mus^t not, we are told, become 
enthusiasts in religion. O no ! they may be concern- 
ed about their business, their pleasures, their poli- 
ticks, but their religion is a matter about which 
they need feel no concern. They may be fired 
with ambition in the pursuit of wealth, learning and 
honour, but religion and virtue are to be contem- 
plated and pursued without emotion. Religion 
must be to us a business of cold, mercenary cal- 
culation ; our accounts with heaven are to be kept 
by a regular debit and credit ; and the only objects 
worth living for are those in regard to which we, 
are always to remain entirely unmoved. 

My friends, one is wearied with the cry of en- 
thusiasm and fanaticism from men who believe as 
little as they can, and feel still less than they be- 
lieve, and with hearing perpetually in respect to 
those persons, whose hearts are interested in their 
religion, that they are under a delusion. We have 
lived long enough in a ' world without souls f we 
should remember that we are advancing to a ' world 
without bodies ;' and until the two great command- 
ments on which hang all the law and the prophets 



15 

are expunged from the christian system, until the 
final consequences of our actions in the retribution 
of God cease to be objects deserving of our ambi- 
tion or our dread, we need not fear to excite men to 
worship the Deity in spirit as well as in truth ; and 
remembering always, that with the heart man be- 
lieveth unto righteousness,* we may appeal to ev- 
ery sentiment of love and gratitude, of desire or 
aversion, of hope or fear, to secure them from the 
ruin of vice, and to animate and urge them forward 
in the practice of christian virtue. 

Be it then the object of the christian preacher 
first to convince the understanding and then to 
warm the heart ; only let him have a care that his 
principles and instructions be founded in the relig- 
ion from which he deduces them; that they be true, 
and confirmed by reason and experience ; and then 
let him urge them home by a direct appeal to the 
consciences and the hearts of his hearers ; from the 
prolifick stores of his imagination let him borrow 
every apposite illustration ; let him cull from science 
and art and nature the fairest and most fragrant 
flowers of rhetoric ; let his words be winged like 
the fiery arrows of heaven, that perchance urged 
by the same invisible hand they may rive the heart 
of stone, where hitherto all ordinary attempts to 
penetrate have been unavailing; and sometimes let 

* Rom. x. TO 



16 

him portray the mystic finger on the wall, which 
to the alarmed conscience will need no interpreter 
to declare ' thou art weighed in the balance and art 
found wanting.'* 

But one caution on this subject seems necessary, 
which is, that we speak in no case any but the 
words of ' truth and soberness.' Imagination, with- 
out reason and common sense at your side, like the 
glittering and fantastick exhalations of the evening, 
may prove a devious and treacherous guide. Be- 
ware, in respect to matters of doctrine or practice, 
of misrepresentation or exaggeration. Sometimes 
human nature is so frightfully caricatured, that we 
cannot recognize in it a single lineament of that 
glorious Creator who was pleased to make man af- 
ter his own image; and doctrines and propositions 
are sometimes so much overstated, and the merit of 
particular virtues, or the deformity of particular 
vices so much exaggerated, that the hearers, discov- 
ering the falsehood of a part of the representation, 
without discrimination reject the whole. Truth 
and sincerity should lay at the foundation of every 
religious discourse. The doctrines of religion are 
of such unutterable moment that they admit of the 
boldest eloquence, but this is not inconsistent with 
the proper simplicity of christian truth. 



* Dan. v. 27 



17 

It may be expected, that I should say something 
of the proper length of a discourse. Some per- 
sons advise that you should sew up just sixteen 
pages even before you choose your subject, which 
you must be sure to fill up that your paper may 
not be wasted, and which you must not exceed, be- 
cause that is long enough for any sermon. But a 
sermon may be long at ^ye minutes, and it may be 
short at fifty. We need not give ourselves much 
concern in regard to the opinions of those persons, 
who, when the service is begun, are only solicitous 
to know when it will be done ; and if it be your 
misfortune to have some hearers,* you must preach 
long enough to give them an opportunity of hear- 
ing a part of the discourse ; but with respect to 
rules on this subject it is enough to say, preach till 
you have done* and have discretion to leave off 
when you have done. The only caution proper in 
the case is, that we should not undertake too much 
in a single discourse, but* confining our attention 
to some one subject, endeavour to give as full and 
connected a view of it as possible in a reasonable 
time. 

III. I offer in the last place a few cursory re- 
marks on the delivery of a discourse. 

What is chiefly important in this respect is, that 
we should avoid all affectation, grimace, uncouth 

* The sect of Eutyehians. Acts xx 9 

3 



18 

tones, gestures, and manners, which are either 
ludicrous or offensive. Many publick speakers, 
through mere diffidence, contract habits of this de- 
scription of which they themselves are wholly un- 
conscious, and which impair or prevent the good 
effects of the best and otherwise most useful ser- 
vices. But rules of rhetorick can never make a 
man eloquent, and least of all does it seem proper 
to apply them to a preacher of Christianity. Far 
be it from any one who holds that sacred and 
honourable character ever to consider himself in 
the light of a performer, and all attempts at dis- 
play, every thing like study or form in his attitudes 
or gestures, is likely to excite disgust in the serious 
mind. 

Let him come to his subject with those feel- 
ings and views which the nature of the duty, the 
occasion and the place should excite, and then let 
him dismiss all concern as to appearance or man- 
ner, excepting so far as to avoid peculiarities of 
speech or gesture which might divert the atten- 
tion from the great object of the discourse. Only 
let him remember that the character, which he 
holds, is that of a teacher of the religion of Christ'; 
that the subjects upon which he addresses his fel- 
low-men are no other than doctrines revealed and 
duties enjoined by the Most High God ; that in 
their final results and consequences they are as- 



19 



solemn and affecting as can be conceived ; that in 
each and all of them, he and they, whom he ad- 
dresses, have an immediate and personal concern ; 
and that the time is coming, when he and they 
who hear him must answer before God how he 
has spoken and how they have heard ; let him 
utter nothing but what he knows and feels and let 
him feel whatever he utters, and he must be elo- 
quent in the best sense of the term, and will effec- 
tually contribute to the high purposes for which 
he ought to labour. Sincerity and disinterested- 
ness give a charm to discourses of a moral and re- 
ligious nature which nothing else can communi- 
cate ; and an opinion on the part of the audience, 
that the preacher is himself in earnest, that he re- 
gulates his own life and character by the princi- 
ples and views which he would recommend to 
them, and that his own heart is warmed by the 
same fire which he would enkindle in theirs, will 
give a force and energy to his instructions and 
persuasions, which they can never have without it, 
and render discourses otherwise inferior, interesting 
and improving. 

Such are some few leading principles and rules 
which seem to apply to this particular branch of 
ministerial duty. I trust that I have not spoken 
on this subject with an unbecoming freedom. I 
rely upon the often-experienced friendship of my 



20 

seniors and brethren to put the most candid con^ 
struction upon my remarks. 

We are happy, my brethren in the ministry, in 
being engaged in one of the most useful and hon- 
ourable employments which can be exercised, that 
of enlightening and improving mankind. It is our 
province to communicate that instruction which is 
of all other the most important, moral and religious 
instruction ; to inculcate principles, which are the 
only substantial foundation of honour and happi- 
ness in the present and the future world ; to impart 
those consolations which only are adequate to 
heal the broken heart ; and to assist and direct the 
inquisitive mind in its searches after virtue, happi- 
ness, immortality, and God. It is our province 
to attempt to rescue men from the debasement and 
wretchedness of vice; to elevate their views and 
disclose to them the prospects of futurity ; to 
dwell with them upon the most interesting and 
glorious exhibitions of God's mercy to the world 
in the gift of Jesus Christ his Son ; and by mo- 
tives and arguments the most grand and powerful 
and momentous, to persuade them to the practice 
of virtue and to invite them to a communion and 
friendship with the best and holiest of beings. 
May our own minds be elevated by these exalted 
views, our own hearts glow with this divine 
spirit, our own lives be governed by these holy 



21 

principles, that having preached to others, we may 
not ourselves be rejected ; in the discharge of 
these high duties, may we be sincere, serious, 
honest, zealous, disinterested, faithful, as becomes 
the dispensers of the best of heaven's gifts to man- 
kind ; the ministers of a religion worthy man's en- 
tire confidence, his profoundest veneration, and his 
purest affections ; confirmed on the part of Jesus 
Christ by the most arduous, magnanimous, and 
sublime labours and sacrifices, and in its establish- 
ment, and propagation, its earlier and its later 
triumphs, honoured by the signal interpositions and 
displays of God's wisdom, power and mercy. 

The candidate for ordination will accept the as- 
surance, which we trust he does not need, of our 
interest in the success of his labours as a christian 
instructor and guide. The proprieties of the place 
and the occasion forbid any expression of that per- 
sonal esteem and regard, which the heart would 
prompt, but which had better be conveyed in other 
language than that of words. We bid you wel- 
come, my friend, to a share in our honourable la- 
bours and services ; we rejoice in this publick re- 
cognition of you as a christian brother and minister, 
which custom, reason, order and propriety sanction 
and approve ; we assure you of our earnest prayers 
to our common Father in heaven on your behalf ; 
may his blessing follow you through life, and may 



22 

he grant to you that, which to the benevolent and 
pious mind, is the richest of all rewards this side 
the grave, a success to your labours in dispensing 
the light and consolations. of the gospel, adequate 
to your reasonable expectations and your warmest 
wishes ; and in the end admit you to a more glori- 
ous service among ' the just made perfect.' 

To this christian assembly we tender our re- 
spectful and fraternal salutations. The success of 
our faithful labours rests under God's blessing with 
you, and this we wish, brethren, even your perfec- 
tion,* and this we pray that your love for God, for 
Christ and for mankind, your love for christian 
truth and christian virtue may abound yet more 
and more in knowledge and in all judgment.f 
While the serious and faithful minister gives you his 
best services and consecrates his labours and tal- 
ents to truth, humanity, virtue and piety, chill not 
his ardour by neglect or indifference ; do not tor- 
ture and oppress him with a grief and sickness at 
heart, which is inexpressible, when he enters the 
house of God to join and to guide your devotions 
and to address his friends and fellow men on the 
most momentous subjects of human concern in 
God's behalf, to find himself forsaken by those 
whom it is his first desire to serve, and compelled 

* 2 Cor. xiii. 9. J Pbilippians i. 9. 



^3 

to spend his strength upon naked walls and vacant 
seats. Think not that jour duty is done, when you 
have contributed what the laws of the land re- 
quire you to contribute to his pecuniary support ; 
I would to God that you could for one moment 
enter into the feelings of an honest and faithful 
minister, and nothing would tempt you to think of 
him so unjustly and to treat him so unkindly ; 
miserable and contemptible indeed is that minister, 
who can suffer even for the shortest time such 
motives to occupy the place in his heart, which be- 
longs only to the high considerations of religion. 
On the contrary animate his exertions, soothe 
his toils, quicken his zeal, reward his labours by 
4 lending to him a listening ear,' and 4 an under- 
standing heart ;' by your presence and sympathy ; 
by your cordial reception and serious and conscien- 
tious improvement of his services. 

While he exhibits to you the high objects of chris- 
tian ambition, and points to the path of true happi- 
ness, and opens to your faith and hopes a way of 
access to God's unclouded presence, press forward 
with a generous emulation, that you may enter with 
him into those regions of exalted virtue and spiritual 
perfection, where we shall no longer see through 
a glass darkly, but by immediate and infallible per- 
ception ;* where there is no night, and men need 

* I Cor. sift 12, 



24 



not even the light of the sun, but the Lord God 
giveth them light, and they shall triumph forever 
and ever * Let him that heareth say, Come ; and 
let him that is athirst come, and whosoever will, let 
him drink of the water of life freely .t 



* Rev. Jtxii. 5. | H- 17- 



CHARGE, 
BY THE REV. DR. ALLYN, OF DUXBURY, 



Ordination of ministers is justly considered a sacred and 
solemn act, but like other religious acts has no value in itself 
Unless it lead to sentiments, affections and conduct which are 
holy, worthy of the christian, and beneficial in their effects to 
the church. If we separate from the solemn exercises usual 
on occasions like the present, the ideas suggested to the mind, 
the ends designed, the religious and moral tendency of the 
. language used, nothing of value remains. Prayer and praise, 
the singing of psalms, the administration of baptism and the 
Lord's supper, together with the act of ordination in which we 
are now engaged, have, none of them, any use, sacredness, ac- 
ceptability, separate from their influence in producing a more 
devout, active and useful life. On this principle, Ordination* 
without any special reference to place, or a people of the min- 
ister's charge, may be viewed with favour and approbation, if 
the service be performed in a serious and pious manner, accom- 
panied with moral effect in regard to the candidate to be ordain- 
ed, and in regard to the spectators and actors in this solemnity. 
Ordination communicates no grace; only operating as a 
monitor, and drawing after it a particular train of ideas and 
emotions. It communicates no exclusive authority, for every 
man is authorized to admonish, teach and persuade his neigh- 
bour for his edification. It places a man under no obligation 
not binding before ; for every christian is obliged to perform 
what may benefit his fellow-creatures, advance the cause of 
Christianity, and promote the glory of God. 

But on what basis shall we ground the charge to be given to 
the candidate for ordination r Here is no commencement of 
any new connexion ; no call to stated preaching and the admin- 
istration of religious ordinances ; no constant engagement in the 
usual services of christian worship ; no expectation that the du- 
ties of the pastoral relation will devolve upon him. It is an- 
swered ; we, the ministers of the Bay Association charge you, 
Sir, to walk worthy of your vocation as a christian $ to do the 
work of an evangelist as you have opportunity ; to defend the 
gospel against the libertine and scoffer ; to inculcate the tenets 

4 



26 

and precepts of Christianity in your intercourse with men ; to 
speak and act at all times, and in all places, as a disciple of 
Christ. 

Further, we charge you .as a protectant christian, made free 
with the liberty of the gospel, ever to deem truth as more im- 
portant than local orthodoxy, the scriptures as more complete 
than any creed of human composition ; to maintain the right of 
each to judge for himself, to own the truths revealed to your 
mind, and not through fear of injury in your person or estate, 
to conceal it ; to confess Christ and all you believe respecting 
him and his religion, with a due regard however to his own ex- 
ample when he said, I have many things to say, but ye cannot 
bear them now. Preach and practice on that sacred decision ; 
I will have mercy and not sacrifice. You will consequently 
not injure such as may be deemed heretics, in the common, 
though incorrect use of the term. Our laws have not allowed 
us the power of injuring them in their bodies, or estates ; may 
you never be disposed to detract from the merit of their char- 
acter. 

We charge you to oppose, by your constant influence, the 
disposition of some to separate from their pious and virtuous 
brethren ; and let your charity towards others be as large as 
you desire their's to be toward yourself. Deem no man or as- 
sembly of men infallible. Respect the wise and the good, and 
be always watching for new light to break upon your mind and 
upon the world. 

We charge you furthermore, as a dissenter, to beware of the 
garment having the spots of antichrist ; to maintain the liberty 
of churches, and the right of individuals to join those churches, 
the sentiments of which are most congenial to their own, and 
the ministers of which exercise gifts most acceptable and prof- 
itable to them. 

Having had the advantages of a liberal education, having 
been nursed in the school of our prophets, we charge you to 
consider an acquired ability of teaching others, a power of do- 
inc; good as intimating an obligation to exert yourself in pro- 
moting religious faith, hope and charity. Use every means of 
perfecting your ideas of Christianity. Meditate on its value, 
its spirit, its laws and sanctions, its doctrines, its history and 
examples, its influence on individual and national happiness, 
and that of the whole world. Reflect on its immediate and 
ultimate design to make men holy and virtuous, and to tit 
<hem for the enjoyments of eternal life. Seek advancement 
in christian knowledge. You have not now to learn the com- 
prehensive and progressive character of religion. You was 
noi satisfied with the imperfect ideas imbibed in the nursery. 
You indulged a spirit of search; and with the same reason, at 
this more advanced a?e, if humble, you will doubt of the full- 



£7 

ness and perfection of your faith, and expect new discoveries 
from the study of the sacred scriptures, the treasury of wisdom 
and truth. Here on earth we see but in part ; we are disciples 
in the christian school, and must receive the kingdom of God 
with the docility of children. A humble and docile temper will 
afford the best security against the fickleness of those who are 
always changing without improving. It will prevent from per- 
tinaciously adhering to prepossessions, and obstinately refusing 
confession of error. It will secure against the delusion of sud- 
den impulses and the conceit of intuitive knowledge. ; against 
superstition which, by plunging the human mind into despair, 
utterly paralizes its searching power. Consider yourself a 
learner, and not vainly imagine that your sight now extends to 
the whole system of divine truths, but discriminate that horizon 
which bounds the visible and invisible hemispheres of things 
known and unknown. 

But while you humbly sit at the feet of Jesus Christ, yet in 
the presence of your brethren, and especially in the company 
of profane and immoral men, you may assert the character of a 
teacher in Israel, and use the boldness of a prophet. You will 
frown on the cold and lukewarm christian, on the backsliding 
and unstable, on the perverse disputer, on the irreligious and 
unbelieving who see no form or comeliness in our divine Mas- 
ter, that they should desire him. 

Though we have no reason to suspect a particular necessity, 
we charge you to have no fellowship with the unfruitful works 
of darkness, and to give no place to false brethren by subjec- 
tion, no, not for an hour, that the truth of the gospel may con- 
tinue with you. Enlist yourself among the reformers of your 
fellow-men. Oppose every kind of wickedness in all persons, 
whether high or low, rich or poor, whether professors of religion 
or not ; for as in the church of God, men all meet together on 
the same level, asserting like privileges, so the minister of 
Christ knows no man after the flesh, but notices the good and 
the bad, wherever they may be found, by praising the one and 
reproving the other. Be zealous therefore as you have oppor- 
tunity, to ameliorate the character and manners of all whom 
you can influence. I used the word zealous. Permit me to 
explain it. Zeal is only another word for charity ; and charity 
is mainly shown by efforts to reform our fellow-men, to dimin- 
ish the power of sin in the heart, to make men more holy, more 
virtuous and consequently more happy ; and in the attainment 
of these ends, it sunereth long and is kind, envieth not, vaunt- 
eth not itself. This kind of zeal once vanquished the fury of 
superstition ; prostrated idols ; maintained the christian ground 
against the stern authority of civil magistrates who commanded 
the apostles to preach no more in the name of Jesus 5 and with 
it, like victories may now be won over bigotry and fanaticism and 




28 

fashionable follies ; vulgar vices, ami all the evil customs and 
dispositions of men. Zeal or charity will give success to the 
arguments of every christian minister, and never leave him 
hopeless, that God will finally prosper that cause which he ap- 
proves. 

In connexion with this be admonished to favour the views of 
those numerous benevolent institutions, preventive of vice and 
misery, promotive of virtue and happiness, which distinguish 
these latter days of the church. In the great number of them, 
you will make your own selection of such as you are best able 
and disposed to assist ; and yet we may hint at some specially 
deserving patronage. The Peace Society- — Bible Associations 
—the Retreat for the Insane, and the Asylum for the Dumb, 
have had less attention than they merit, considering the great 
and extensive benefit they are calculated to afford. Peace and 
good will to men were the words uttered by the heavenly haiv 
binger of the Messiah. His all comprehensive charge to his 
disciples was, go forth unto all nations, preach the gospel. How 
can christians be improved or heathens instructed better than 
by spreading the records of our faith ? This could not have been 
accomplished, before the invention of printing. The greatest 
miracles of Christ after raising the dead, were wrought on those 

Possessed of the devil. Among the principal attestations to 
is being the Messiah, the disciples of John were directed to 
report to their master — the deaf hear, the dumb speak. We 
charge you, as a minister of him who went about doing good, to 
favour all the humble attempts to imitate him, by relieving the 
distressed in body and mind, and promoting general knowledge, 
virtue and happiness. 

It may serve to increase solicitude for the children and youth 
under your care, if we charge you to make it your constant aim 
to inspire them with the benevolent affections of our religion. 
Represent all knowledge as of little comparative importance, if 
not subservient to the ends of religion, morality and usefulness ; 
and teach them that the best proofs and effects of piety are be- 
nevolence, purity of language, submission to their superiors, 
diligence in study, and good conduct in life. You must suggest 
nothing having the smallest tendency to dissolve the tie of filial 
affection and submission, though some of them may have parents 
who say or do little to further your instruction and persuasions. 
You may by perseverance be successful in forming their chil- 
dren to such habits, and expressions of amiable goodness, a9 
shall engage attention at home, and lead a father or mother to 
ihink when they look on their children, — almost ye persuade us 
to be christians. 

You have been, ever since your profession of Christianity, tac- 
itly considered a member of the society of christians for the 
suppression of vice and advancing the reformation of manners ; 



29 

but now you are specially recognized as such ; for what eke is 
the christian priesthood but a holy fraternity for these very pur- 
poses. When you are invited to subscribe your name as a 
member of anyparticular institution established for religious 
and moral purposes, you may say with the Quaker in his reply 
to the invitation to join the Peace Society, " I belong to your 
society already." All ministers of Christ from the very nature 
of their profession, should consider themselves as one body, 
whose joint and several duty it is to devise and execute the best 
means of breaking up the evil customs of the world, and pro- 
moting the interests of religion. Support designs of reforma- 
tion and thus you will prevent reproach against that holy name 
by which we are called. You will then honour us more than we 
honour you when you exhibit yourself a patron of moral improve- 
ment, as well as an example of virtue. 

You will occasionally be invited to preach in our pulpits, and 
our experience of your readiness in past time to engage in la- 
bors of love, promises a like disposition hereafter. We do not 
require you to preach as we do, to reiterate our creed ; but rely 
on your discretion to display such truth as our hearers can 
bear, in a manner suited to their average character. We rest 
assured that you will display the spirit and power of christian^ 
ity, together with its duties and immutable sanctions ; and we 
shall be satisfied, when our people report to us and say, the mini 
ister you sent us was serious, plain, pointed and practical. Es- 
timate the value and use of your preaching by its effect, and 
think those discourses the best, which contain the most cogent 
persuasions to repentance and a holy life, the hearers of wnich 
depart from the house of worship silent and thoughtful, instead 
of inquiring of news, giving invitations to a party, descanting 
on the merits of the speaker, digesting plans of business, and 
many other improprieties of a like kind. 

The best, I had almost said the only good discourse is that, 
by which the sleeping conscience is awakened ; the heedless 
sinner arrested in his progress ; the wavering christian confirm- 
ed, or some kindred purpose is answered, relative to the spirit- 
ual defects of mankind. It is the opinion of some that most 
^ood may be done by our prayers. These, together with read- 
ing the scriptures, and singing psalms and hymns in honour of 
God and Christ, constitute the essential part of christian wori 
ship. The addition of formal discourses is of modern date, and 
however useful sometimes, it must be confessed, they often do 
little else than feed the vanity of the orator, or gratify the itch- 
ing ears of his audience. Since, however, the opinions of our 
country and age require sermons, let them always be perspicu- 
ous, simple in language and arrangement of ideas, directed to 
one point, tending to produce a disposition in the hearers to 



30 

think more of themselves, and the truths dispensed, than of the 
gifts and graces of the dispenser. 

You will sometimes meet with the sick and afflicted, though 
not called to attend upon them as we are. Humanity, and 
much more, christian love will dictate words of advice, conso- 
lation and support ; to which you will add your prayers on the 
slightest intimation, that they are desired. All objects of dis- 
tress, whether in body, mind or estate, will engage your atten- 
tion, and you will never be more happily employed than in com- 
forting the feeble minded, binding up the broken hearted, and 
strengthening the bruised reed. 

It is desirable to have more occasional preachers ; to see 
respectable laymen fall into the ranks of the ministry, by 
praying, preaching, giving a word of exhortation in cases of exi- 
gency. To reason of righteousness, temperance and a judg- 
ment to come, is not exclusively the duty of clergymen ; but 
all christians should be preachers to their families, neighbour- 
hood, and in the circle of their friends ; while the best endow- 
ed may act in a more enlarged sphere. Were our magistrates, 
lawyers and physicians men of religious character, to give a 
word of comfort and exhortation, as did the first governor of 
Massachusetts Province,* would add dignity to their calling, 
raise the standard of public morals and religion, awaken the 
diligent labours of ministers to bring out of their treasury, 
tilings new and old, answering the expectations of intelligent 
hearers, and excite the hope, that the time is not far distant, 
when all, from the least to the greatest, shall know the Lord. 



MR. KIMBALL'S MEWS OF RELIGION, EXHIBIT- 
ED TO THE COUNCIL. 

Published by request. 

Thehe is a God all-wise, powerful, and gracious, the 
creator, preserver, and governour of the world, the constant in- 
spector of our purposes and conduct : His providence extends 
to every creature and event ; and his unity is as evident as his 
existence and providence. 

God has made to man a revelation of his will : * To our fathers 
he spake by the prophets in the Old Testament ; and to us he 
has spoken by Christ and his friends in the New Testament. 
These scriptures, our rule of faith and practice, are sufficiently 
plain and full to form and perfect the christian character. 

• Vid. Col. His. Soc. 9th vol. page 19 and 10. 2 note. 
i Heb. i. \. 



31 

Their writers were holy men, and so far as inspiration was ne- 
cessary, they were divinely inspired. 

The New Testament explicitly reveals a future state of re- 
ward and punishment, adapted to the character and condition 
of mankind individually, the natural result of a virtuous and 
vicious life as well as the equitable appointment of God. 

Christianity is designed to make men good in every office 
and condition of life. It contemplates man as capable of ac- 
tion and volition ; it addresses the understanding and heart ; 
and its requirements are practicable and reasonable. It incul- 
cates supreme love to God ; sacred regard to his authority ; dis- 
interested love of mankind ; operative benevolence ; repentance 
of sin ; everv virtuous and amiable affection and quality ; and 
it forbids selfishness, hypocrisy, pride, malice, revenge, evil- 
speaki rig, inordinate affections, uncharitableness. But we claim 
not future happiness as the reward of our virtues. lst By grace 
we are saved." That the conditions of salvation have been 
granted us, and that we have power to comply with them, is 
owing to God's unmerited goodness. He will grant also the 
aiding influence of his spirit to those who endeavour to 2 do 
his will, to 3 work out their own salvation. 

4 "God made man upright." All are naturally free from 
moral pollution. The obliquity of our character is attributable 
to ourselves. We have sought out evil inventions. s There is 
" a law in the members warring against the law of the mind :" 
The former is passion and appetite ; the latter reason and con- 
science. It is our duty to keep the passions checked and bal- 
anced ; by their abuse only we are 5 " brought into captivity to 
the law of sin." 

The divine mission of Christ is attested by stupendous mira- 
cles. He was 6 sanctified and sent into the world by God, 
from whom he derived his power, by whom he was qualified to 
instruct and save mankind. He was the representative, he bore 
the moral image of God. In affection and design he was 7 one 
with the Father, as his disciples were, and as all the friends of 
religion should be one. His benevolent and arduous labours, 
privations, and sufferings demand our deepest gratitude. But 
the doctrine of his vicarious sufferings is inconsistent with man's 
responsibility, and the free grace of God in his salvation. 

The scripture doctrine of election relates to distinctions and 
privileges connected with the present state ; and St. Paul's 
predestination relates to the calling of the gentiles to share the 
benefits of Christianity. Unconditional election and reproba- 
tion to future happiness and misery is not a scripture doctrine. 
The prodigal, who becomes a humble christian, will be joyfully 
received to his father's house, while the righteous man and 

i Ephe. ii 8. 3 John vii. 17. 3 Philip, ii. 12, 4 Eccle. yii. 29. 
5 Rom. vii. 23. o John x, S&. T John x. 30. 



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christian who makes shipwreck of faith and holiness, who became* 
and continues the habitual servant of sin, will be finally rejected. 
The special ordinances of Christianity are baptism and the 
Lord's supper. The design of baptism is to initiate us as mem- 
bers of the church of Christ : The subjects are the infant off- 
spring of baptized parents and believing adults ; the mode 
sprinkling or plunging at pleasure. The design of the Lord's 
supper is to commemorate the death of Christ, and it is the 
right and duty of all baptized persons of competent age and 
acquaintance with religion, who have not forfeited their claim 
by defect in morals, to partake of this ordinance. 

In the christian scriptures 1 are some things yet hard to be 
understood; some, which are local and temporary, and in the 
present state of Christianity have no meaning. And Christ 
sometimes adapted his language to the prevalent opinions of 
the times, without deciding upon the truth or falsehood of such 
opinions ; for example, in regard to demoniacks. 

Those only who are favoured with Christianity will be judg- 
ed by it. 2 " They who have not this law r are a law unto them- 
selves ;" and 3 it will be more tolerable for the virtuous heathen 
in the day of judgment than for the vicious christian. 

We should reduce our opinions to the standard of scripture, 
and not the scriptures to our opinions. We should adopt no 
established creed, by whatever authority it is sanctioned, without 
weighing every article in the balance of the gospel, and never 
consider our creed so complete, as to be inaccessible to addi- 
tional light and knowledge. It is our duty to relinquish to no 
individual or class of men our right of private judgment, and to 
give to every man the right which we claim. Union of senti- 
ment is not essential to union of affection ; and as christians 
must differ, they should agree to differ without violating the 
laws of christian charity. 

Genuine religion may be associated with erroneous opinions, 
and correct sentiments and speculations may be associated 
with criminal defect in religion. Faith alone cannot redeem a 
life of practical infidelity. The most important doctrines are 
easily understood ; and God will accept virtuous purpose, per- 
severing endeavour, and constantly advancing virtue in place 
of perfect rectitude. 

We ought to admit the doctrines of scripture by the evidence 
of reason ; to keep the avenues to progressive improvement 
open and free ; to discard erroneous opinions, however honest- 
ly imbibed, or however sanctified by age ; to feel and confess 
that we are liable to false principles and inferences ; and to ac- 
knowledge the good man, to whatever religious denomination 
he may belong, our christian brother. 

i « Pet. iii. Ifi. 2 Rom. ii. li. < Mutt. \. 1 



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